NDLI: The sick building syndrome: a chicken and egg situation?

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Brauer, Charlotte Kolstad, Henrik Ørbæk, Palle Mikkelsen, Sigurd
Copyright Year	2005
Abstract	Objectives: To examine the temporal relationship and specificity between self-reports on the indoor environment at work and symptoms that are traditionally connected with the sick building syndrome (SBS). Methods: This questionnaire study used a prospective full panel design as regards self-reports on exposure and outcome. At the baseline, the sample comprised 2,164 adults selected randomly from the general population. Of these 1,402, who were still working and living in the same place, completed a second questionnaire a year later. Health measures were symptoms that are traditionally connected with the SBS, as well as some “dummy” symptoms that hardly can be causally related to the indoor environment. The associations between self-reports on the indoor environment and these symptom groups were assessed both in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, the latter examining the normal direction that exposure leads to symptoms as well as the reverse order: that symptoms lead to perceived exposure. Results: In cross-sectional analyses, the indoor environment factors were associated equally with SBS symptoms and with “dummy” symptoms. In longitudinal analyses, only few of the indoor environment factors predicted the development of any of the symptom groups. However, both the SBS symptoms and the “dummy” symptoms were risk factors for beginning to report exposures in the indoor environment. Conclusions: Symptoms predict future reports on exposures in the indoor environment indicating that it is difficult to determine what existed first: the outcome or the exposure. In addition, the perceived indoor environment is associated not only with the traditional SBS symptoms, but also with symptoms that cannot be physiologically linked to the indoor environment. These results suggest that there is a risk of reporting bias when assessing non-specific symptoms. Thus, many of the associations found in previous cross-sectional studies on SBS symptoms and indoor environment factors may possibly be explained by reporting bias.
Starting Page	465
Ending Page	471
Page Count	7
File Format	PDF
ISSN	03400131
Journal	International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
Volume Number	79
Issue Number	6
e-ISSN	14321246
Language	English
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Publisher Date	2006-01-12
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Sick building syndrome Bias Epidemiological study Cohort study Indoor air quality
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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